Burghfield and The Cunning Man

Jan commented what a quiet and peaceful night we had at The Cunning Man.  She woke early to the sound of the birds whilst I continued to count sheep.  The early morning view from the side hatch was very tranquil.

It was such a great morning we went for a towpath walk to Southcote Lock. The towpath was alive with joggers, walkers and cyclist all making the most of the sunny and warm conditions.

Looking back towards Waiouru which is the second from last boat

Burghfield Island moorings looked to be very full with boaters out and about doing minor maintenance tasks.

There is a reasonably long strain length of towpath leading to Southcote lock which is just around the bend.  We think it’s one of the most picturesque locks we’ve seen on the K&A canal.

I’d be very surprised if the large brick building isn’t a former water mill.  Jan liked the balcony on the second floor which overlooks the canal but would want it to be larger.  It looks as if the building is now one or more dwellings and what a lovely location.

As it was Sunday we treated ourselves to the sunday roast at The Cunning Man eating in the garden.  The meal was probably the best roast we’ve eaten to date.  Jan had already been on-line and discovered if she joined the Cunning Man ‘club’ she could get a 20% discount on the meal.  So we ate and drank well for £20.

In the afternoon Jan baked bread rolls which we will have for dinner and lunch tomorrow.  I checked the engine fluids and the alternator belt.  The latter appears to be looser so it must have stretched slightly.  I’ll check the belt again in a couple of days and re-tension it. The rear deck was then scrubbed down before everything was taken off the roof and the paint cleaned.  There were small red dots on the paint which I initially thought were specks of paint, but they came off with my fingernail so I assume it’s gum from flowers from the time Waiouru was under the trees at Froud’s Lane.

Obviously the planned move to Reading today didn’t occur.  We decided it was so nice around Burghfield we’d say an additional day and do some exploring.  We haven’t seen any boats coming up from Reading but there have been three boats go down past us.  Two were hire boats from the ABC base at Aldermaston so we may meet them tomorrow coming back up.